DETROIT – A state of emergency was declared in Wayne County on Thursday evening following widespread flooding that damaged thousands of homes.
Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans declared the state of emergency at 5:30 p.m. A news release stated approximately 3,000 homes in the county were damaged.
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The declaration calls on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to also declare a state of emergency so state and federal resources can be available.
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“Heavy rains this week on top of an already wet April have caused flooding and extensive damage in several Wayne County communities,” Evans said. “With thousands of homes flooded or damaged, we don’t have the resources locally to deal with this amount of damage and thousands of our residents are going to need help.”
Some of the hardest hit areas include Allen Park, Dearborn Heights, Ecorse, the Grosse Pointes, Inkster, Lincoln Park, Romulus and Taylor.
“There was just too much rain in too short of time given already elevated water levels in many bodies of water, like the Ecorse Creek,” Evans said. “Since the rainfall, we’ve been working with our local partners to assess the flooding and damage, which is likely to increase, particularly if there’s more precipitation.”
Wayne County’s Director of Homeland Security Tadarial Sturdivant will coordinate with local, state and federal authorities for assistance related to this emergency.
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